DISCLAIMER: ALL OF THE CHARACTERS AND SCENARIOS BELONG TO PATRICK O'BRIAN AND/OR MIRAMAX

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A week had passed since Cicely had left Litten Hall, the Aubrey family home and had taken to the road before arriving with her hostess in Shropshire. Throughout the journey North Cicely had begun to feel less concerned about her place in unfamiliar surroundings and the discomfort and bewilderment had been replaced with an increasing sensation of…

…she wasn't sure exactly what it was. Hope, perhaps. Or even mild happiness. It was as if she were being held up at the shoulders and walking tall as she used to, like a certain burden had been eased allowing for clarity of thought and an acceptance that her lot in life was now improving for the good. It was further enhanced as they crossed the Severn at Shrewsbury; heading off a mile North West to a grand house which turned out to be the home of Sophie Aubrey's friend, Miss Susannah Wedgwood.

It turned out that Miss Susannah Wedgwood was actually Mrs Susannah Darwin; as they drew up to the front of "The Mount", the modern house which they had been spying every so often through the Aubrey's coach windows Sophie explained that her friend's husband was a very successful doctor who could not only afford to keep her in a manner in which she had become accustomed but provide her with the most modern of furnishings and an active social calendar.

Cicely put in her best effort not to judge her soon-to-be hosts on the basis of that information and as she took in the size of the Darwin family home which was twice that of Litten Hall she reminded herself that it was she who was unusual, not Sophie Aubrey, for talk of wealth and status was the oil which turned the cogs of female society.

And, as the coach had drawn to a standstill Cicely could do nothing but smile wryly at the turn of events for it was not the manservant of the house who hurried from the front doors to greet them but Mrs Darwin herself, flushed a little in her cheeks as she embraced her friend heartily before extending her warm welcome to Cicely too.

She followed behind Mrs Aubrey and Mrs Darwin who, Cicely couldn't help noticing were like two peas in a pod, alike both in looks and also in demeanour: warm and kind, but unassuming and down-to-earth and as the two women talked at speed as they walked through the large entrance hall of "The Mount" Cicely trailed a little behind them, taking in its vast ornamentation and lavish modernity all of which, Cicely noticed, continued in every room of the house.

The style was undoubtedly Neoclassical and throughout their home each one appeared to be a tribute to a variety of European cultures, as if the Grand Tour could be undertaken in less than an hour. Sculptures of Roman gods and nymphs holding pillars graced the sitting room, the white plaster coving, Mrs Darwin explained as she eagerly showed them both the following day, a gift from her father, a successful potter from the five towns north of Stafford. She described how her husband's father had gifted them the gilded furniture that stood elegantly by the Adam fireplace which had been applied using a novel process designed by a friend of Dr. Darwin senior.

In the dining room china stood magnificently in more cabinets at one end, clearly another gift from her family in exotic mahogany cases identical to those in the library room matching the long oval dining table and silk-backed chairs, all of which had been purchased using Dr. Darwin's commission money in his first year of practise.

A delicate plastered ceiling in off-white stretched the entire length of the first floor. At the top of the stairs was a succession of finely furnished bedrooms where drapes and bedding of different styles, colours and fabrics adorned a variety of bed frames made, Susannah Darwin explained, by new industrial processes into which she and Robert, himself a doctor like his father, had agreed to invest money, sprung from steam automation, the latest innovation from Ironbridge and a boon for local commerce.

As she toured their family home Cicely was struck by the vast differences to the lives of ladies living in the south. The provincial environment of the Darwins was such that their lives revolved not about aristocracy and class grandeur, which cascaded outwards from the centre of the capital like ripples in a pond, but around local commerce, family business and trading opportunities…

…and so, despite her automatic response of mild abhorrence to such outward material trappings that crystallised and reflected wealth and status over the week to come Cicely found herself warming to the eclectic and free-thinking tastes of her hosts who were themselves the epitome of gentility. Cicely was not only made to feel welcome but, when she explained the task that she was to undertake on behalf of her husband over dinner on her first evening at the Mount she was bluntly informed by Robert Darwin that he would be ashamed to the point of mortification if his library, which spanned almost half of the first floor, was not be fit for her purpose for, he explained it contained not only the most up-to-date work but also a immense variety.

Dinner was a grand affair, at least by Susannah Darwin's standards. Mrs Aubrey, who had insisted on packing the dress that Cicely had worn to her own entertainment, had mentioned to Cicely as they were travelling that Mrs Darwin would, should there be such an evening planned, be flitting around, fussing over the tableware with the housekeeper and up and down to the kitchen speaking to the staff. Her hostess did not disappoint and, though it was not as stately as Sophie Aubrey's soiree Cicely could see this was the best the Darwins offered and as such, she didn't mind playing the part again of honoured guest.

She was glad Robert Darwin had mentioned the library to her: she had boldly wandered off on her own that afternoon and found her own way there. Once she had seen its rich offerings, filled with everything new from the Royal Society she knew that her work for Stephen would be helped immensely were she to read what the library contained, including on the mahogany desk in the centre a basalt-finish letter writing set with its ink stand and sand for blotting out for use, she had to agree, silently however, with Robert Darwin that his library was the best she had seen in a very long time.

"I would very much like to spend some time there," Cicely replied as she nodded at the host and hostess as the second course of wild hare and pheasant was being served to the small company of adults. The Darwins' four children who Cicely had met briefly that afternoon had long since eaten and were now in the rooms and nursery on the second floor, abedded by Susannah Darwin herself, something which had Cicely in admiration of the woman in light of her obvious excitability regarding her own hospitality that evening. "And I am sure your books are indeed fit for purpose." She leaned towards Mr. Darwin a little and smiled. "Tell me sir, do your books contain anything that would help me to explain the diversity of species that my husband described on his visit to the Galapagos Islands?"

"Robert, darling, would you be so kind as to pass Mrs Aubrey the wine?" Mrs Darwin's words were nothing if not polite but there was a certain exasperated edge to them which made Cicely realise that she had overstepped the bounds: women of her standing were supposed to speak of fashions and arts or, in such provincial company as the Darwins, local manufacture and commerce.

Cicely looked around the dining room which was as beautiful as the rest of the house and, as the rest, adorned with grand objects of sentiment. Cicely had been told of the origin of most of the pieces by Mrs Darwin as she and Sophie were shown in from the drawing room for dinner. The dining table had been made for them by a woodcrafter near Derby, where Mr Darwin's father, Erasmus Darwin, had moved to continue his practise. It had been their wedding present from the doctor, whose portrait hung over the fireplace in the dining room and whose absence from their lives for the past three years had been much a sorrow to them.

"I, I do apologise, Mrs Darwin," replied Cicely softly to her hosts, an element of guilt settling in her stomach, "it was an unfit subject for your such fine dinner table." She jumped as Robert Darwin thumped the table and she turned sharply, memories of her father in a temper flooding back.

"Ha! Not at all!" Robert Darwin thumped on the table again making the cutlery move and grinning mirthfully. "Did you say your husband is in the Royal Society? Perhaps I know him…I think it would be about time that father's book is brought out again." Cicely turned and smiled a little towards the other guests at the table but Dr. Darwin was not finished with the topic of his library. "And upon the desk something from my much esteemed father-in-law," he continued, raising a glass to the guests. Cicely reached towards a thin-stemmed crystal glass, something made as a gift from a local craftsman she had learned earlier that evening.

"Josiah Wedgwood," replied the man sitting opposite Robert Darwin at the other end of the table.

"Indeed, Samuel, indeed," acknowledged Robert, nodding towards Samuel Jinks, himself a doctor who practised medicine in Shrewsbury with Dr. Darwin. He and his wife were regular guests to the Mount and the odd mix of company was something to which Cicely was unaccustomed. She had been welcomed and there was no doubt her hosts had made her feel at ease but it was the regularity of the meal which caused her to falter: even as a guest with Mrs Aubrey she was, despite being married, to all intents and purposes as single woman and that feeling of space that Cicely had encountered at Litten Hall was almost entirely juxtaposed to the busy, packed bundle of life that she felt here at the home of Dr. and Mrs Darwin.

"Josiah Wedgwood," repeated the guests and raising their glasses of reasonable-quality red wine in tribute.

"Without whom I would not have my beautiful Susannah," continued Robert, leaning back a little in his chair and taking his wife's hand in his own. Susannah Darwin smiled and nodded obligingly at her husband. Clearly the sentiment of rigid formality was there, as was required in a modern early nineteenth-century household but as Susannah and Robert glanced across to one another Cicely could see that their love for one another was not just dynastic even if it may have started out that way, something too which Sophie Aubrey was keen to express on their way.

"And the writing set, of course. Experimental, Mrs Maturin. Josiah Wedgwood never put them into production…not cost-effective. But I am honoured to have his test piece, something I use on every occasion."

"My father does have a thing for experimentation," commented Susannah as the dinner service was rapidly removed to be replaced with the tea service, something which Cicely recognised immediately to have knew to have originated from Mrs Darwin's father's factory. "Although this would be one of his better ones."

"The Queen range," elaborated Mrs Jinks, nodding towards her cup and smiling. "One of the more popular choices from the Wedgwood factory, Mrs Darwin." The woman's words were more a statement rather than a question but Susannah Darwin nodded in any case, adding a couple of sugar lumps to her cup with a beautiful pair of silver sugar tongs and stirring the drink with a matching spoon.

"The Prices will soon be a name to be reckoned with, so says Erasmus," nodded Dr. Darwin, stirring his tea with a spoon of his own. "My elder brother, Mrs Maturin. He took on father's clientele when he moved to Derbyshire. Stayed in Lichfield: a brave move some would say. But there are people there and people of wealth, so there are plenty of rich, ill people for him to treat."

"Just like Shrewsbury," laughed Dr. Jinks, his laughter unlike that of Robert Darwin, light and tinkly compared to their host's deep, textured expression of mirth. "A good many. Do you know I had a gentleman in my surgery the other day who had been brought there by his servants? Over work, they claimed. He claimed he was going to extend the Watling Street, to make it passably smooth by horse and carriage, all the way to Anglesey."

"No!" boomed Robert Darwin. "Surely not! Someone with some sense at last!" He put down the cup heavily onto the saucer. Cicely caught the expression on Susannah Darwin's face but it was nothing to the one that she had reserved for Cicely as she clanked the silver spoon against her own cup. Cicely looked apologetically once more at her hostess, hoping for forgiveness for yet another social faux pas. She noticed Sophie glance towards Susannah too and Cicely wondered whether Jack Aubrey's wife was not now starting to regret her decision in bringing her.

"Indeed so," nodded Mrs Jinks, a woman, Cicely had learned, who was quite well-travelled and had been a distinguished writer of geographica in her own right. "Our country's road system is, at present, not more than a collection of muddy tracks." She leaned forward and addressed the adults at the table assertively, "Were a new collection of toll roads to be introduced and the money collected from travellers went towards improving the roads however, we would have a network of which to be proud."

"How elegant and sophisticated," mused Robert Darwin. "Order over chaos…" He shook his head and Cicely recognised a look of nostalgic pride cross the man's face. It was something she had grown accustomed to as Stephen was unravelling the mysteries of nature in his cabin aboard the surprise. Nostalgic pride.

"Indeed so, Robert," nodded Dr. Jinks. "What discoveries have been made just this past score of years? Whoever would have thought what wonders our industrial age would bring? Do you know, a man in Kernow, in the South, has come up with a pressurised steam device which moves under its own power, on rails?"

Cicely sighed inwardly as the glory of technological marvels was played out between the two men. Their world was steeped in connections which gave them an altogether different outlook on life. Around the Darwins, and the other influential families too, their lives revolved around craft and people got ahead not by their place in society but by adapting to manufacturing demands and then selling their goods. They prided themselves that they could turn their hands to anything and, Cicely could see, they were accepting to the point of ignorance of social differences: Susannah Wedgwood was almost aristocracy in terms of her status in society whereas Sophie Aubrey was at best middle class. Dr. Darwin was much more learned and esteemed than Dr. Jinks but they worked together and shared a practice. Where this would have mattered a great deal to the people attending Mrs Aubrey's function it mattered nothing at this dinner table. Other things mattered here though, and one of these was the rigorous adherence to manners.

Cicely's thoughts were rapidly drawn to a halt when she realised that five people were staring at her.

"I'm sorry, I was lost in my own thoughts…" She glanced around, realising that someone had been talking to her and she spoke into the expectant pause and hoped that this would be the last time she would have to look apologetic.

"I said that we are to understand that you were on board a ship, Mrs Maturin." Mrs Jinks smiled at Cicely and spoke patiently to her. Cicely nodded, hoping that no-one would press her too much.

"How fascinating," Dr. Jinks continued, nodding towards his wife. "I've never seen the sea."

"Yes my dear, you have." Mrs Jinks corrected. "We have travelled by that awful road that is to be extended and improved. We visited Anglesey, and watched the ferries sail across the Irish Sea."

"Ah yes. And crossed over another of our country's greatest achievements. Did you know, Mrs Maturin, it is 1000 feet above the Menai Straits and allows a man to get from London to Dublin in less than eighteen hours?" Cicely shook her head. She did not know that fact but it was indeed a marvellous one.

"My husband had a firm interest in the technological developments of our country," concluded Mrs Jinks, smiling at Susannah Darwin.

"As is mine. I wonder how you have the time to attend your growing list of clients." Susannah leaned across and patted Robert on the hand.

"We manage. And a better road network will bring much prosperity to the country. And more sick people for us to treat, Samuel." Dr. Jinks nodded mirthfully.

"So, where did you meet your husband?" enquired Mrs Jinks, returning to the original subject as one of the maids poured her a second cup of tea. "

"Aboard ship," Cicely replied, smiling a little as she recalled the Surprise. "My husband is the surgeon upon Mrs Aubrey's husband's ship."

"You were aboard a warship?" asked Mrs Jinks shrilly. Cicely smiled and put down her delicate china teacup carefully onto the saucer.

"I was indeed. It is a place like no other. No man more free, no man more loyal, no man more honest…"

"But…how did you end up on…a man-o'-war? That is what Captain Aubrey's ship is, Mrs Aubrey?" Cicely watched as Susannah glanced across to her friend and noted the look of uncertainty creep across Mrs Aubrey's face before nodding slowly.

"His main interest in naturalism," replied Cicely, hoping this would do as an answer and that no-one would press her further. "Though I was privileged to witness some remarkable developments in medicine. We visited the Galapagos Islands and my husband developed some ideas about the creatures thereupon." She glanced at Dr. Darwin and smiled. "Your father's book was one of his most treasured possessions but I'm afraid to say it was washed overboard in a particularly unsavoury storm off the coast of Egypt." That was enough, Cicely reasoned. She had brought the conversation round to the host of the evening.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Maturin, but I still don't understand. How was it that you were a person aboard a fighting ship?" Mrs Darwin was clearly not satisfied with the explanation and Cicely inhaled as the last two years of her life scrolled very quickly across the back of her mind as she wondered what to say next. Before she was compelled to answer however Dr. Darwin broke the silence.

"A naturalist of discernment. Well, I do compel you Mrs Maturin to use whatever means I have at my disposal for you to help uncover meaning behind your husband's discoveries."

"Thank you sir. He hopes to win a commission with the Royal Society on his work with how species differ in different parts of the world and how they have come to be different."

"He sounds to be a fine man," Mrs Jinks said warmly. Cicely smiled and tried not to recall Stephen's face. The last time she did that it had been only his work which she had had in front of her at the time which had prevented her from leaving Litten Hall.

"Indeed he is."

"Then I have the very thing," smiled Robert Darwin. "My father, the great Erasmus Darwin, he had fancies and notions about how the world around us is made up too."

"Zoonomia," Cicely nodded.

"You are familiar with it yourself?" The look of delight on the man's face at the recognition of something that was obviously important to him.

"The book that Stephen lost was a particularly well thumbed copy of the latest edition. I was sorry to see it go too. It was fascinating."

"Then perhaps you would like the original? It was produced for the family and contains a great deal more detail than the publishers were happy with – " he took a swig of his tea before leaning towards Cicely mock-conspiratorially, " – and between you and me much of it was too controversial to be made public."

"I would be most happy to see it in fact, I am sure it is a great honour," replied Cicely gratefully.

"So, was your ship involved with any conflict whilst you were aboard, Mrs Maturin?" asked Dr. Jinks. "The latest news is that he is headed towards Mantua."

"A lot of good that will do him," scoffed Dr. Darwin, leaning back in his chair. "Nelson will be on his tail, or that of Villeneuve, whichever's the filthier."

"That's if he decides to use his fleet again." Dr. Jinks shook his head as one of the servants made to pour tea into his cup. "They have promoted an Irishman…Wellsley…whether he'll be any good…"

"He's supposed to be good…and the fact that Nelson's thrashed him once…good for morale…"

Both men glanced at Cicely as if expecting her to join in. Cicely said nothing and picked up her teacup again: feigning ignorance was much better than enduring Mrs Darwin's displeasure at a female guest speaking on male-related matters.

"Once is not enough," continued Dr. Jinks. "Oh, the Nile may be a great victrctory…"

"Or indeed a great Victory," punned Robert Darwin. "Kept the metalworkers in Sutton busy for months…whoever would have thought the Cymru…from Swansea of all places, would have the answer. But they did…it'll be the copper that'll win us," Dr. Darwin concluded knowledgeably. "Smoother in the water, stops barnacles and weeds growing." He glanced at Cicely again and this time she felt a blush creep onto her face. She wished she could participate in the discussion: of course the copper on the underside of the boat was a good idea, Captain Aubrey had a thin sheet of iron on the Surprise which had to be treated every two weeks to stop it from corroding but copper, well: it didn't corrode. An ingenius solution.

"…ingenious…" she heard Dr. Jinks echo as the conversation continued around her.

"Old father would have loved that," added Dr. Darwin.

"I hear that Wellsley's taking the long way round, around the Pyrenees…a fair old tactic if you ask me," continued Dr. Jinks, "keeping the army away and splitting up Boney's defence. That means, to give them a run around…"

"…Nelson'll be sailing from Cadiz to the Pacific…"

Cicely didn't realise she had said that aloud until Mrs Darwin began to laugh. Her laugh was light and airy but appeared to be expressed in surprise rather than condemnation of Cicely's perceived error of speech.

"You seem to have picked up a fair amount of naval stratagem in your time at sea," she commented, smiling at her friend. Mrs Aubrey, nodded too and smiled at Cicely. "It is no wonder your husband thought you fit to assist him."

"A commission will set him up well," added Dr. Darwin, getting to his feet. He and Dr. Jinks began to walk towards the dining room door, no doubt to continue their discussion about military tactics, or perhaps about manufacturing in the drawing room. Cicely knew that she and Sophie Aubrey would be invited into the parlour to discuss subjects of a different nature.

"Well," continued Dr. Jinks. "Let us see if I cannot assist you too. I have a good friend, Mr George Richards, he has recently become brother-in-law to a Northumbrian commissionaire by the name of Stephenson. You could do worse than to pass this onto your husband." Dr. Jinks nodded lightly and Cicely nodded too, despite her doubt as to whether the connection would be anything other than manufacturing-linked, however honestly it was conveyed.

"Yes sir, I will."

"Then perhaps, Mrs Maturin," finished Dr. Darwin, "you would like to see the library now?"

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Instead of accompanying Susannah Darwin and Sophie Aubrey to the sitting room to carry out stitching, reading and playing, Robert Darwin was keen to show Cicely his handsome bibliographic collection including the obvious pride of it, which was his father's "Zoonomia", written ten years before. Cicely was rather relieved at his offer, not least because she would be able to allow the women a chance to relay personal information between each other but also because of the tedium of the aforementioned activities. Dr. Jinks accompanied them, he too keen to examine the book based upon his friend's glowing report of the tome.

The large book lay open in a lectern in a glass cabinet, the centrepiece of the Darwin family's library. Robert Darwin explained to both Cicely and Dr. Jinks, as he lovingly removed it from the cabinet, that each double page had an illustration for every day of the year that informed the reader of something interesting about the natural world, and that they were dated…here was today, he pointed towards the date, August 16th, showing a beautiful hand drawn and water-coloured illustration of a sweet chestnut emerging boldly from its green prickly jacket.

"How beautiful," whispered Cicely as she looked over the lavishly decorated page. The letters appeared printed but she could see from the indentations that they must have been written by Dr. Erasmus Darwin himself.

"Well, let me lift it out," said Robert, leaning over the cabined and placing his hands underneath the sturdy leather cover. Both Cicely and Dr. Jinks watched as he placed it onto the large mahogany desk next to the Wedgwood writing set.

"Here." Dr. Darwin took Cicely by the shoulder and turned her towards the shelves of books that lined every wall. "All of these are at your disposal. I shall be glad that they will be put to some use." He stepped back as Cicely moved around the bookshelves, looking at the volumes in awe. Some of the titles here Stephen would have loved to have read himself, she knew and she made a mental note to write to Robert Darwin when she and Stephen were in a position to be together and ask of a visit.

"Your collection is so vast, on such a wide range of topics." Cicely glanced about at the leather-bound books packed from top to bottom on the shelves and smiled at Robert Darwin nodded in agreement.

"I am happy to say I am the custodian of such a bibliographic marvel…none of us own anything, Mrs Maturin," he added as Cicely frowned a little at his words, "we are merely their keepers until they become wards of someone else." Cicely felt herself silently agreeing with Robert Darwin. It was the way she felt about the world at large, like a great big stage with no boundaries or constraints. Or rather, that was what she had felt like. The truth was she felt more confined these days.

"If you would be so kind as to let me work here I will be no bother with you or your family…I feel I could get quite a long way in quite a short amount of time…" Cicely felt her spirits rise as she looked across to her generous host.

"Dr. Jinks and I will be in the drawing room, and my wife and Mrs Aubrey in the parlour." Cicely smiled again towards the doctor before turning her quiet contemplation to the natural world in the titles of the books before finally returning her eye to "Zoonomia".

And for the next hour Cicely felt she had done more good than she had done in the intervening hours between her leaving Stephen and arriving at "The Mount". Her first task was to identify which books contained useful sources of information but, much as a part of her was compelling her to continue she decided that she would be very rude if she were to ignore the women all evening.

While the conversation revolved around fashion and society Cicely nodded and discoursed with the women like a professional socialite and her relationship with her hostess grew. But at the back of her mind was the burning temptation of information burning as hotly as her desire to be aboard the Surprise and be with her brother.

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Following dinner the next evening, when Susannah Darwin's demeanour towards her appeared to have softened, the hostess took Cicely to see her newborn son. They had a nanny who tended the older children but she had rejected Dr. Darwin's offer of a nurse, unusual for a middle class wife, choosing instead to wean the child, as her other children, herself. Cicely had spent most of the day in the library and had made progress in many areas and detailing as much as she could in the margins of her copies of Stephen's notes. The day had passed quickly and the evening meal was soon upon them: although not as grand as the evening before it had to be said that Mrs Darwin's attention to detail was without question high indeed.

Dr. Darwin had chosen to retire to the drawing room soon after dinner to read over some case notes and so she, Mrs Darwin and Mrs Aubrey made their way upstairs. Despite Sophie Aubrey's initial reservations at Cicely's need to accompany them Cicely had waved away her hostess's concerns and Susannah talked about her children fondly, about her eldest daughter eager to become a doctor like her father, despite her gender to which Cicely, as Robert Young, silently approved, and her next youngest son who had an eager interest in nature as they ascended the majestic staircase.

"Just like his father," commented Mrs Darwin. "And his father before him. Perhaps we'll even have a naturalist in the family, although I am sure Robert would never approve."

The nursery was decorated to a crisp standard, as the rest of the house. The crib stood near the door with ample room all around as was the custom: middle class babies were brought up in their nurseries until they were able to walk, were bathed and fed therein. At six months old it was some time yet before young Charles joined his siblings in the family room.

"Here he is," chirruped Mrs Darwin, her face softening into a tender smile towards her baby, who looked up towards his mother and grinned toothlessly at the sound of her voice. Mrs Aubrey followed her friend and she too fussed over the infant but Cicely remained at the doorway watching the women carefully as the painful feelings that she knew would come played out in the theatre of her mind…

…Edward…her Edward…the child named after his Uncle…

As she gazed on into the nursery all at once the stifling domesticity and correlating constraints seemed to press her ever tighter into her bodice. The effect was as if she were suffocating and images of the sea surrounded her as the longing for hot sun and hard days tormented her cruelly…

…toiling with passion at the ropes in filthy conditions…sitting with the men eating maggot-ridden food…singing about Spanish ladies and the good life that was to be had at each port…

But above all that there was her husband…her Stephen –

"Are you all right?" Cicely's thoughts were abruptly broken and she saw Susannah Darwin's face full of concern as she held her son in her arms.

"Mrs Darwin, I'm afraid I'm not feeling myself…" Susannah Darwin continued to look perturbed as Sophie Aubrey crossed the nursery floor bathing her in a look of equal concern and reaching for her hand.

"Mrs Aubrey took the liberty of disclosing an intimate but, may I say, sorrowful event to me." Cicely shot a look at Sophie Aubrey whose look of concern was cut with potential regret. Cicely hadn't the strength to be offended by Mrs Aubrey: indeed, it would be unusual for the two women not to have discussed it, she supposed. Having neither cared for nor participated in society Cicely had little measure of its content or propriety.

"My child died, Mrs Darwin," she said simply. "I am…sorrowful for that." And then, surprising even herself she dropped Sophie Aubrey's hand and held it out towards baby Charles.

"He has bright cheeks," she continued. "He looks like you."

"He looks like his father when he is asleep," replied Susannah Darwin. "And he is very bright, very inquisitive."

Soon after and Sophie and Susannah were fussing over the child and Cicely made her leave, declaring that she was returning to the library to continue where she had left off that previous afternoon. It was almost nine in the evening now and dusk was setting in; through the round landing windows beams of sunlight sheared through the evening clouds, resting upon the crimson carpet where she was treading.

Despite her eagerness to return to what Robert Darwin had described as, "not one of the finest collections in England but one that suited him," a description which was far off the mark for such a substantial library as his, she lingered a few steps down the staircase listening to Mrs Darwin talking to her son and waited for the bolt of sadness to overwhelm her again.

This time it didn't come, not in the manner in which it usually did, and Cicely held onto the banister wondering why. Her emotions seemed to have changed and within her, within the last few minutes: as well as feeling the same sadness that she had borne since she saw Jack Aubrey holding her stillborn son now she felt more at ease with the idea of a child. Being in the nursery she felt she could have held Mrs Darwin's youngest son as Sophie Aubrey had done, something which she would never have contemplated before.

It was…a feeling of calmness. There would be others, this Cicely knew…other children that she and Stephen would bring safely into the world. Together.

Continuing down the stairs Cicely looked towards the door on the first floor in which she had left her things in which she was studying. She sat at the table again and read over the manuscript to which she had added a few extra notes underneath her husband's own curly handwriting. And there she would have stayed no doubt until early into the morning had she not been disturbed by a loud rapping on the front door directly below her. Coming so late at night at nearly eleven Cicely stepped out onto the becarpeted landing.

"No, I do not know." From her position on the first floor Cicely could hear the Darwins' butler talking to the person at the door. It clicked shut momentarily and she heard the butler make his way towards the drawing room where she knew Dr. Darwin would be located, probably savouring his third brandy right now. Cicely crept further forward towards the stairs which swept out grandly from either side of the landing, just as those in Litten Hall had done, something which gave her a good view of the front door.

Who would be calling at such a late hour? Cicely thought to herself and she was surprised when these words were echoed aloud by the master of the house making his way steadily across the black and white chequered entrance hall.

"He says he is a Justice of the Peace…"

"Old Smeaton?" Cicely heard Dr. Darwin question.

"No, this man isn't local. He asked me for my master's assistance…he was most insistent…"

Cicely crept down a few more stairs. From her vantage point she could see Robert Darwin's back taking up the majority of space in the doorway; the Darwins' butler hovering beside him like a bee waiting beside a flower. She leaned further forward so that she could catch what the caller was talking about but the voice was too indistinct.

"Yes, Susannah Wedgwood is my wife," confirmed Dr. Darwin authoritatively. "May I enquire who is seeking her?"

Behind her laced bodice Cicely could feel her heart pounding. Why would a JP be calling at such a late hour to the Darwins' home? Someone who Dr. Darwin did not know? She crept further down holding onto the railing and now she could see a pair of boots standing in the doorway. But still she could nothing other than one side of the conversation, that which Dr. Robert Darwin was holding.

"If you could make yourself plainer sir," Dr. Darwin declared, "then we may at such late an hour be able to assist you."

"….mm..mm…..mm..mm..mm..mm…..mm..mm..mm…"

"Yes," confirmed Robert Darwin, still holding firmly onto the latch of one half of the front door. "My wife did have a lady visitor a few days ago by the name of Sophie Aubrey – "

Cicely ran. Her mind had already put the puzzle together at top speed and she ran upstairs towards the library. There was little time for her to do much but clear thinking now she knew would be something for which she would be grateful later on. Wigg. Somehow he'd found her.

Looking round the room she discarded what she knew she could do without into the fireplace not waiting to watch the orange flames consume her hard 2 days' work. With her she took Stephen Maturin's own work and headed towards the steps which took her down towards the servant's quarters and out towards the buildings at the back, towards the stables. Circling round in the cool spring air Cicely headed towards the apple orchard, ducking low behind a stump and catching her dress on the bramble beside her.

Cicely crept forward, heading around to the side of "The Mount" and tearing some more of Mrs Aubrey's beautiful dress on the foliage. The light from over the house's front doorway cast shadows onto the drive and from here Cicely could see, to her despair, a carriage and upon it the purchased crest of the Wigg escutcheon.

"You say Mrs Maturin's father promised her in marriage to you?" To his credit Cicely noted, Robert Darwin was insisting on the full facts from Wigg, thus stalling him. The bulk that was Benjamin Wigg standing on the doorstep being interrogated by a provincial physician would annoying him greatly, Cicely knew.

"…Mrs Maturin does not exist. It's probably a name she has invented for herself!" Magistrate Wigg's voice was turning decidedly raspy. "Miss Cicely Hollum is betrothed to me! She is her father's property. If she is in your house, sir, I compel you to turn her over to me!"

Cicely turned and sprinted around the outside of the building, leaning against the back wall of "The Mount" as she stared into the blackness that was the Shropshire countryside to the east. There was nothing for it. Darwin would only stall so much and Wigg would no doubt produce a warrant.

What was she to do? She knew Benjamin Wigg and he wouldn't give up until he had what he wanted, what her father had promised him. She had to get away…go…leave the safety of the Darwins' home and Sophie Aubrey's charitable sanctuary. She had to think fast.

To her right was the door through which she had come through which led up to the first floor. To her right the stable outbuildings with the half-dozen or so horses and ponies belonging to the Darwins'. It would take too long to saddle one and it had been many years since she had ridden.

A light appeared in a window which illuminated one part of the kitchen. Distracted Cicely looked in and noticed a maid scurrying about, pausing momentarily to take a jar from the wall and open it, before scurrying away and dousing the oil. And then Cicely remembered what she had seen Susannah Darwin putting in a jar just like that one the day before.

Asking for forgiveness from God, Cicely crept into the kitchen. The shelves were high over the pantry wall and she had to move a chair to reach them.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Darwin," she whispered as her hand settled over a bag of coins, "I'm sorry to bring shame to you."

Holding onto the coins and Stephen's work Cicely slipped the door closed onto the latch and looked at the darkness in the east. That way, she knew, would bring her towards a city in two days' walking. But it would be no good trying to get anywhere in her current attire.

And then she looked towards the stables again. It had worked before…and she had seen both stable hands in uniform that day.

Running into the stable Cicely soon located the clothing, folded neatly over a railing closest to Spirit, the Darwins eldest daughter's pony. Ignoring the pungent smell of manure Cicely tore guiltily at her dress until she was standing in nothing more than corset and bloomers. Now…or very soon she would be caught, Cicely reminded herself and she kicked off her shoes replacing them with the crudely-made stable shoes used by the workers to muck-out.

It worked once, thought Cicely as she noticed a cloak in a hook by the door and chided herself for wasting time by thinking…she needed to be doing. And fast.

Within minutes her underwear was discarded too being replaced by a shirt, jerkin and britches and she reaching for the cloak wrapping it closely round her before reaching up to the horse-hair shears which hung from a nail near the doorway. Her own mousy-blonde hair had grown back since she had made her transition to Mrs Cicely Maturin but despite, or perhaps because of its feminine appearance she had no hesitation in lopping off most of it, throwing it into a pile with the rest of her clothes before stuffing them under an untied bale of hay.

Now away, she thought, looking east again, in the opposite direction to the town. And then she paused, stowing away her stolen money and letter from Stephen inside her jerkin, feeling the guilt of her behaviour towards Mrs Aubrey and the Darwins when they had welcomed her so warmly.

I'll write, thought Cicely, I'll tell Sophie. She deserves to know, but not now. Now she had to disappear.

Behind her voices filled the air. A light came on in the kitchen again and she could hear voices getting closer and closer. Quickly she made her way towards the gardens…she would go through the gate and into the open countryside.

And do what? What can I do? There will be no transport willing to take me to a city dressed as a stable hand even if I offered money. They would think it stolen anyway. Which it is, said a little voice in her head.

I'll pay it back, thought Cicely to herself and she darted towards the side of the house backing towards the front as Dr. Darwin and Magistrate Wigg stepped out into the courtyard.

"I tell you Darwin she is here somewhere!" fumed Benjamin Wigg. He paused in his rant as Dr. Darwin gave him a withering stare.

"It would help, Magistrate, if you were to give me a full explanation of this. You claim Mrs Maturin is a deluded Miss Hollum and you have come to claim her as your own? Forgive me when I say that this story would sound a little less fanciful were you not hammering on my door late at night and scaring my children!"

"Cicely Hollum boarded a ship nearly two years ago, one captained by the husband of Mrs Aubrey, the friend of your wife. She married the ship's doctor and now calls herself Mrs Maturin. The marriage is invalid, Mr. Darwin. I have come to claim her!"

"Dr. Darwin," corrected Robert. "Now, supposing all this is true, do you really think that, even with your piece of paper, I will allow you to continue to search my house?"

"You will," Cicely heard Benjamin Wigg sneer, "or I shall be down to Shrewsbury town and bringing King George's men with me!"

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Never in her life had Cicely Maturin felt so scared. Here she was in a foreign part of the country and by some terrible fortune her father's intended knew that not only was she not dead but also that she had spent time aboard the Surprise and married Stephen.

In the darkness lights twinkled but Cicely didn't care. It was the proximity of the lights behind her on the hill at the Mount she cared about at the moment. Stumbling over some brambles Cicely regained her balance and was relieved to find road beneath her feet.

How could he possibly know?

To her right the lights of the town of Shrewsbury shone in her side vision but she hurried on despite the tortuous rubbing of her shoes and the chill wind, despite it being July, which were finding every hole and gap in her ill-fitting clothing.

She would have to send word to Mrs Aubrey…that was her priority. That and a way south, to the continent. She would have to find Stephen herself now; she would have to cross the channel to France.

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A cut had provided Cicely with shelter until the early hours of the morning by which time she had made her way painfully into Shrewsbury. The walk had been long but she had chanced upon a clothier who had set up stall early in Shrewsbury's lower market area near English Bridge. Pulling the cloak over her face Cicely claimed she was a widow purchasing men's working clothes for her brother who was in search of business in the area.

The man was cheerful and served her promptly, seemingly grateful to have a few shillings in his pocket so early on in the day and went on to tell Cicely that the Union Canal company had been in town the day before hunting for labourers. It was all she needed to know. Thanking the man for the business Cicely walked over English Bridge and up the hill towards the countryside again.

It took her a good two hours before Cicely, now in the guise of a man, found the canal company. From the newspaper Robert Darwin had been reading the day before she knew that the company was moving south to renovate the stretch of waterway in the Black Country, close to Birmingham. It was the cover she needed, a few days to the city of a thousand trades before planning her move to the capital.

It had been a struggle to dress, Cicely had found, her body seemed to have taken on a more shapely appearance and she had had to bind the strips of stable hand clothing around her torso tighter than before, so much so, Cicely had thought, that she might as well have been wearing a corset. She hoped that the shirt would be large enough to disguise her hips.

At the bank of the Shropshire Union Canal young men, old men and boys stood in line. The line-up was unlike that which she had endured to gain a place aboard the Surprise. The company seemed in need of navvies and few questions were asked. The foreman in charge of this section inched forward smoking heavily on a pipe and leaning towards a younger man who hastily scribbled down things that he was saying. Occasionally the foreman would pause and puff smoke into the face of a potential recruit and as he neared Cicely she realised with some relief that everyone in front of her had been herded off towards the navigationals' camp.

She held her breath as the foreman, seemingly distracted by something unrelated to recruitment glanced over her and on to the next man. The young lad who was scribbling down information beside him leaned towards her.

"Name?"

"Robert Young."